Teenager throws baby down trash chute

Solon, Ia. — Solon residents were shocked Monday to learn that a quiet, studious Solon High School graduate was charged with killing her newborn baby by throwing her down a garbage chute at a Florida resort.

Ashley Truitt, 18, was charged Monday with first-degree murder in Broward County, Fla., after staff at a Pompano Beach resort found a newborn girl dead in a trash bin Saturday morning. Truitt, who participated in Solon High School's graduation ceremony on May 20, apparently hid her pregnancy from her parents, boyfriend and others in the community.

"We're all just kind of in shock," said Solon High School Principal Bob Lesan. "I just hope she gets the help she needs. It will be a tough time for her and her family."

Truitt, who was on vacation at the Wyndham Resort with her parents, younger brother and boyfriend, gave birth to the baby around 4:30 a.m. Saturday in the condominium bathroom, according to an affidavit filed by the Broward County sheriff's department in Florida.

Truitt walked down the hallway on the building's seventh floor and threw a bag allegedly containing the infant down a garbage chute. An autopsy shows the child died of blunt force trauma to the head, likely caused by falling seven stories into a ground floor garbage bin, Broward County officials reported.

Wyndham Resort staff called police around 9:30 a.m. Saturday when they found large amounts of blood and a paring knife on the seventh floor, police reported. "Deputies saw the blood trail leading from Room 785," said Hugh Graf, a public information officer for Broward County.

Jason Black, Truitt's boyfriend of about one year, told police he was awakened around 4 a.m. Saturday when he heard water running in the bathtub. When he looked up from bed, he observed Truitt, clad in towels, walking toward the door of the condominium unit.

Black followed Truitt, observing a trail of blood down the hallway, police said. Black saw his girlfriend enter a trash chute room, but when he attempted to open the door to the room, she prevented him from doing so, police said. Black confronted Truitt about the blood and she said she was having her period, police reported.

"Ashley dismissed Jason and he returned to unit No. 785," the affidavit states. Truitt came back to the room 10 minutes later and did not offer any more information to Black, police reported.

Truitt later told investigators that she hid the pregnancy from her parents and Black, whom she did not think was the father of the child. She said she began to experience labor pains around midnight and at around 4:30 a.m. gave birth to the infant girl in the bathroom, police reported.

The baby was breathing and crying upon birth, Truitt told investigators. She used a kitchen paring knife to cut the umbilical cord. Truitt told investigators she was bleeding heavily as she walked down to the garbage chute room, where she delivered the placenta.

Once inside the garbage chute room, Truitt placed the baby in a bag that contained towels, she told investigators. Truitt "refused to elaborate on the disposal of the infant down the trash chute," the affidavit states.

Truitt's parents, Raymond and Patricia Truitt, told investigators that they had concerns their daughter was pregnant. Raymond Truitt said he noticed his daughter had gained weight, but when he confronted her about being pregnant, she denied it, the affidavit states.

Patricia Truitt said she had the same suspicions and had noticed her daughter wearing loose clothing.

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the entire article can be read here:

it is all over the news here (I live like 10 minutes North of where this Girl is from.)

seriously though..wtf? How can the parents and boyfriend not know she was pregnant? Also, how did she not bleed to death after all of that? O__o

I'd rather send her for intensive counselling
It must have been traumatic for her.
Of course, her actions cannot be condoned. But it sounds like this girl really needs help. We shouldn't just write her off as a guaranteed danger to society. She's just 18.

I'd rather send her for intensive counselling
It must have been traumatic for her.
Of course, her actions cannot be condoned. But it sounds like this girl really needs help. We shouldn't just write her off as a guaranteed danger to society. She's just 18.

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yeah..I agree.

it sounds as though she has some serious underlying issues that need to be addressed. Simply throwing her in jail is not going to solve anything.

I kind of do not feel sorry for her in this sense.
If it is not her boyfriend's baby, she could have told the truth. There is no way that is going to be hidden; Suspicion, unfortunate finds, and no girl would bleed like that.
This was planned. Even if it is not her boyfriend's baby, covering something up just makes the problem bigger.
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This was her own screw up.
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Here is the question though. They were in a hotel. Sharing a room. Maybe a bed even. How could that be hidden? I think that would tip things off. ~

I kind of do not feel sorry for her in this sense.
If it is not her boyfriend's baby, she could have told the truth. There is no way that is going to be hidden; Suspicion, unfortunate finds, and no girl would bleed like that.
This was planned. Even if it is not her boyfriend's baby, covering something up just makes the problem bigger.
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This was her own screw up.
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Here is the question though. They were in a hotel. Sharing a room. Maybe a bed even. How could that be hidden? I think that would tip things off. ~

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It's not exactly right to assume like this and come to such an extreme conclusion until more light is shed on the whole thing.

^-^ I'll just openly say I am one sided on this. It was planned. She kept a lie. She messed around. Not only that, I can't see how it was hidden. Even my really thin friend could not hide it if she tried.
A girl that bleeds that much, and a guy let's her meander... Sounds a bit much.
I don't know. Maybe it's because people who are one or so years younger than me are still retarded.
It's either that, or maybe the boyfriend isn't that innocent. *Whistle.*
I can't find light to shed on such a thing. A girl of 18 is not a poor dear, and are usually, from my experience, not that lethargic, when she does this. She is a girl that has gone too far.

^-^ I'll just openly say I am one sided on this. It was planned. She kept a lie. She messed around. Not only that, I can't see how it was hidden. Even my really thin friend could not hide it if she tried.
A girl that bleeds that much, and a guy let's her meander... Sounds a bit much.
I don't know. Maybe it's because people who are one or so years younger than me are still retarded.
It's either that, or maybe the boyfriend isn't that innocent. *Whistle.*
I can't find light to shed on such a thing. A girl of 18 is not a poor dear, when she does this. She is a girl that has gone too far.

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She could also be one of those loners who find it extremely hard to mix with society and don't know what to do in real life situations like this one.
I was autistic in early childhood and anti-social in primary school, I know the feeling
I say we reserve judgement until we find out the whole story.

I don't see a reason to hold judgment to such silly things. It has not happened to us, but if something seems obvious, I believe your own judgment is your own judgment. Even if it seems mean, but if it is how you feel about a topic, and you hold it in, well, you might as well follow what everyone else says. :>

She could also be one of those loners who find it extremely hard to mix with society and don't know what to do in real life situations like this one.
I was autistic in early childhood and anti-social in primary school, I know the feeling
I say we reserve judgement until we find out the whole story.

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you can't reserve judgement she MURDERED her own newborn. that is evil period.

You're still stuck on humor. O-o I have always used silly as in the term "stupid," "Lethargic," Since generally it has been considered cruel to call someone 'silly.' [Aye... You got the belt for saying your step sibling was silly, in my family. Hah.], It's not out of humor. It's out of serious dense-headed teenage drama.
"Oh no. I'm pregnant. My boyfriend will dump me. My friends will call me a -insert-name-. Not even my morals can forgive this." Insert a huuuuge bunch of complaints. All of it does not say, "Hey. I can tell the truth. Set up for adoption. If my boyfriend leaves me fore this, he's not the one for me." Nothing sensible clicks. Thus it is 'silly,' aka Pretty dumb.

That's why I mentioned Morals. O_o I am not sure where she is in religious stuff, but a lot of religions tend to say something about unlawful ... *cough*intamacy~*cough.* That just adds pressure.
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I don't like to really put blame on any religion, but that's out of bias hopes that such things are not good for excuses, and used constantly for excuses. When it becomes so, it just leaves a rash for redundancies that cling to something so insecure.
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she was not extremely mentally ill... she was cleverly hiding her pregnancy

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She was trying to hide her pregnancy. She probably didn't know what else to do, and was scared of the consequences of disclosing her pregnancy.
That combined with probable mental conditions, you should know the rest.
Of course, we're all just guessing.